Now in its ninth year is Ireland's Community Skratch Games - the annual DJ battle that takes place at the Bierhaus in Galway each Easter weekend - that began as a fun alternative to the more serious minded DJ battles like the ITF or DMC. In fact its Sex Pistols styled slogan for one early year boasted Never mind the DMC's...Here's the Community Skratch Games!

The Community Skratch Games began in 2007 with no real long term plans, merely a desire to show love to the skratch art of turntable manipulation for the small niche of skratch fanatics in Ireland as well as raise awareness of hip-hop DJ culture to those not fully aware of turntablism as a musical art.

In addition to its fun battle (for which the champion won, not a corporate prize such as some sponsored company's mixer, but a bag of meat - yes as rashers (Irish bacon), sausages, steaks, and pork chops - donated by the local butcher) the Community Skratch Games, which has continued each year growing from strength to strength, a variety of workshops and showcases. Or as chief organizer Jimmy The Hideous Penguin called it in a 2009 Amoeblog interview "a barrage of funk, hip-hop, electro and sweaty dancing folk." At that same time the DJ/producer and member of Ireland's incredible Vince Mack Mahon DJ crew, who oversees the spinoff Community Skratch Music record label, noted that the advantage of holding the annual Community Skratch Games in Galway versus the large Irish city of Dublin was that, "It's easy to be noticed in a small city. There are lots of great skratch DJs in other parts of Ireland too. I'm not sure, it's easy to do your own thing in Galway. In bigger cities I think people lean more towards fitting in or suiting other peoples' needs."
This year's Community Skratch Games will take place this weekend - Saturday and Sunday April 4th and 5th at the Bierhaus - and feature a grip of amazing talent including Naive Ted, Danny Deepo, DJackulate, Handsome Paddy, Johnny Doobs and many more with host Ray Wingnut (look for his Amoeblog interview next week here). A few weeks ago I was over in Galway, Ireland visiting Jimmy Penguin who was already very busy getting ready for this weekend's ninth annual event. I asked him what makes this year's Games different than previous years? "It gets bigger and better every year with more and more new delighted faces and dropping jaws. It's great to see people getting involved year after year," he said adding that, "As always the highlight this year will be the Community Skratch Games freestyle Battle Royale." Click here and/or see flyer above for more details.

Gang Starr "Just To Get A Rep" from the album Step Into The Arena (1991)

"Mad brothers know his name" are just a few of the well known (and oft quoted or sampled) Gang Starrlyrics rapped by the late great emcee of the legendary hip-hop duo GURU (Gifts Unlimited Rhymes Universal) over DJ Premier's killer track on "Just To Get A Rep." The song was released in February 1991 by Chrysalis/EMI as the lead single (with "Who's Gonna Take The Weight" on the filp side of the 12" single) from the duo's hip-hop classic full-lengthStep In The Arenathat was released a few weeks earlier. Like that album the single "Just To Get A Rep" remains a hip-hop classic. And now 23 full years later it is even clearer what an important role this particular song plays in its part of hip-hop's legacy, with each phrase and rhyme from the song known by heart by every true hip-hop fan and DJs/producers who like to take snippets of it and throw it in the mix. See full song lyrics listed below along with the videos for the other Step In The Arena album tracks as the mellow, chilled out "Lovesick" whose numerous samples include Digital Underground's best known song "The Humpty Dance," the heavily politicized "Who's Gonna Take The Weight?" (my personal fave album track with "Check The Technique" in close second), and the title track itself from the album Step In The Arena that while it was technically the group's second album it was their main introduction to most hip-hop audiences at the time.

Celebrating its twenty year anniversary is Nas' flawless, classic 1994 album Illmatic which has been especially reissued by Sony Legacy for the occasion as Illmatic XX. The album, which includes such hip-hop timeless gems as "N.Y. State of Mind," "It Ain't Hard To Tell," and "The World Is Yours," by the Queensbridge emcee is this week's number one chart entry at the Hollywood Amoeba Music store, where also charting in the latest top five is another 90's rap classic: Eminem's 1999 megahitThe Slim Shady LP(Interscope) which finds itself back in top sales this week at the SoCal store. Other current top five chart entries include Drake's Nothing Was The Same on Cash Money, and YG's My Krazy Life (Def Jam) which drew inspiration from various West Coast hip hop classics as Dr. Dre's The Chronic. Speaking of Dr. Dre, the famous former N.W.A. member/influential solo artist who has made a huge impact as a hip-hop producer, looks about to make his biggest (financial) mark as co-creator of the audio equipment and music-streaming service Beats Electronics known for the headphones that carry his name (Dre Beats) if the company, as has been reported over the past 24 hours, gets purchased by Apple at a reported $3.2billion price tag!

Today, August 10th 2013, the 40th birthday of hip-hop - the culture born in the Boogie Down Bronx four full decades ago by Jamaican born, Bronx raised (from age 12 on) DJ Kool Herc - is being celebrated in New York City. (Note however that, according to Kool Herc the officially recognized founding father of hip-hop, that August 11th is the actual date that it all began but all summer in NYC including at 5Pointz hip-hop is enjoying a 40th birthday celebration with weekly events including one tomorrow - the actual birthday, August 11th).

But today is the big hip-hop birthday bash when Kool Herc and many other icons will be celebrating this momentous occasion in a concert starting in about an hour here in NYC at Central Park's Summerstage.(near 72nd Street). Other hip-hop icons on the bill will include Grand Wizzard Theodore, Kool DJ Red Alert, Marley Marl, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Premier, Roxanne Shante, and more. I am heading up there now and (provided I get into this sure to be well attended free show) will report on it here in the Amoeblog in the coming days. More concert info, that runs till 7pm EST, in flyer left or online here.

Meantime above and below are a series of "History Of Hip-Hop" video clips that honor the culture comprised of DJing, MCing, B-boying, and graffiti/writing that so many people, myself included, love with all our collective hip-hop hearts. Interestingly they were all made by non American producers - indeed like with jazz and blues before it hip-hop as an incredibly important culture gets the least respect in its homeland. Hip-Hop Central Park Summerstage.

As outlined in both the chart and accompanying video above with E-Lit at Amoeba Berkeley, the new number one on the Amoeba Hip-Hop chart is the major label Def Jam/Island debut from the phenomenally popular Southern mic wrecker Big K.R.I.T.Live From The Underground. The arrival of this guest heavy album, including the surprise guest spot by blues legend BB King, follows hot on the heels of a series of mixture reissues such as Return of 4Eva from the Mississippi MC that fans can't seem to get enough of. Another artist that commands a diehard following is prolific Bay Area rapper The Jacka who returns to the Amoeba chart this week with The Sentence, which as E-Lit notes, is the final/third part of his ongoing rap trilogy.